Listening to audio content out loud can be a social activity that involves family, friends, or both. Audio content may include, for instance, music, talk radio, books, audio from television, and other audible material. For example, in a household, people may play music out loud at parties and other social gatherings. In such an environment, people may wish to play the music in one listening zone or multiple listening zones simultaneously, such that the music in each listening zone may be synchronized, without audible echoes or glitches. Such an experience may be further enriched when people, for example, browse audio sources, add a music track to a playback queue, learn more about a music track (such as track title or track artists), or view what music track is next in the playback queue.
Listening to audio can also be an individual experience. For example, an individual may play music for themselves in the morning before work, in the evening during dinner, or at other times throughout the day at home, work, or on the road. In a household or shared environment, individuals may want to play different music in different listening zones at the same time. For these individual experiences, the individual may choose to either use headphones or limit the out loud playback of audio content to a single zone or area.
Whether an audio experience is social or individual, technological advancements have increased the accessibility of music content, as well as other types of media, such as television content, movies, and interactive content. For example, a user can access audio, video, or both audio and video content over the Internet through an online store, an Internet radio station, a music service, a movie service, and so on, in addition to the more traditional avenues of accessing audio and video content. Demand for audio, video, and both audio and video content inside and outside of the home continues to increase.
In addition, the drawings are for the purpose of illustrating example embodiments, but it is understood that the inventions are not limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.